Innovating the future of marine propulsion: A novel aframax tanker design

02 Jul 2024

The novel arrangement achieves significantly improved fuel efficiency across all speed ranges when compared to today's standard dual-fuel ships

In a groundbreaking development, RINA has granted Approval in Principle to SDARI as the ship designer for an innovative aframax tanker. This vessel is the deliverable of the joint development project, which also includes TMS Tankers as the prospective owner and Wartsila as the engine maker.

The design boasts a unique propulsion system, replacing the traditional setup of one 2-stroke main engine and three generators with two medium-speed engines. These engines are capable of powering both the vessel's propulsion and hotel load.

This novel arrangement not only offers supreme redundancy and enhanced safety, effectively eliminating blackout risks, but also achieves significantly improved fuel efficiency across all speed ranges when compared to today's standard dual-fuel ships.

Moreover, the design provides a compliance path for shipowners, allowing them to operate close to 2040 without incurring additional costs. At that point, depending on market dynamics, they can choose to either retrofit the engines to the prevailing global fuel or convert the natural gas to hydrogen fuel, capturing carbon atoms as CO2 for storage and disposal ashore.

This milestone, celebrated during Posidonia 2024, reflects the strong cooperation between esteemed partners, with the AiP indicating that a detailed specification for building the ship is already in place. It underscores the design's maturity and the comprehensive review of ship performance by all parties involved.